Chair.



I.N'o.. 732,736. PATENTED JULY 7, '1903';

- GRUENWALD.

,NO MODEL.

- if ass s 12 Z I i I j m i V I eAIIargzysi Patented July 7.190s.

PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST GRUENWALD, OF SALEM, OREGON.

CHAIR.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,736, dated July '7, 1903.

' Application filed April 9, 1903- Serial No. 151,891. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUST GRUENWALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salem, in the county of Marion and State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Collapsible Chair, of which the following is a specifica- 'tion.

by simple adjustments and the disadvantages attendant upon such shrinkage completely obviated.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the invention is more fully disclosed, the same consists in the construction and combination of parts of a collapsible chair, hereinafter fully described,- shown in the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by the same characters of reference throughout,

and having the novel features thereof pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the chair set up for use. Fig. 2 is a view, also in perspective, of the chair knocked down, showing the compact form in which the parts may be assembled for shipment. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the chair from front to back.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters, 1 designates the seat of a chair, in this instance formed of wood in a solid piece, but which may without in any way affecting this invention be formed of a suitable frame with the seat portion proper made of leather, cane, or other suitable material. The seatportion l is provided .with sockets 2 2 on the upper surface for the side members of the back, and with sockets 3 3 3 3 on the under surface for the legs.

The back consists of side members 4 4, a top piece 5, a bottom piece 6, and a plurality of ribs 7, in this case three in number, havin the top and bottom pieces. It is, however, to be understood that the specific form of the back of the chair, as above described, forms no part of my invention, and other forms of back structure may be readily adopted instead of that described and shown in the drawings, which is used simply for purposes of illustration. The side pieces 4 at are inserted into the top piece 5 in sockets provided therefor, as shown, and the bottom piece 6 has the ends grooved, so as to fit smoothly against the side pieces l 4, being held in position by means of screws 8, upon which are pivotally mounted arms 9, whose front ends are pivotally connected by screws 10 to the sides of the seat 1. The arms 9 may be of any desired form, and the point of attachment of the screws 10 to the seat 1 may be that best adapted to the form of arm chosen. The arms 9 serve not only the usual purpose of arms, but form a hinge connection between the seat 1 and the back of the chair, which is adapted when the chair is collapsed, as shown in Fig. 2, to rest upon the upper surface of the seat. The legs (designatedby numeral '11) are inserted in the sockets 3, provided on the under surface of the seat 1, and are connected by rungs 12, which are of the usual form and connected with the legs in the usual way, as by insertion into sockets provided therefor in the legs. The legs at the back of the chair are connected by a single rung, and'single rungs are also used to connectthe legsat the rear with the legs at the front; but asis usual in the construction of chairs the front legs are connected by a pair of rungs, as shown, and these are in turn preferably connected by short vertical members 13.

In order to hold the parts of the chair in association, so as to render the structure rigid and enable it to withstand the strain placed upon it in use, I provide on the undersurface of the seat a rod 14', having at each'e nd'an eye 15, formed by bending the rod and having a slight curvature downwardawayf-from' the seat to which it is attached by a screw or other suitable fastening passing through the eye at the upward end. The rod 14. forms a sort of base to which the other brace members are ing their ends inserted in sockets provided connected. The brace for the back by .means f the sides and the ribs are held in their sockets" consists of a rod 16, which extends from the top piece 5, to which it is firmly secured, as by bending over the end, as shown at 17, downward immediately in the rear of the central rib through bottom piece 6 and a notch 18 at the back of the seat 1 and is then bent forward and terminates in a hook 19, adapted to engage with the rear eye 15 of the said rod 14. Attached to the legs are a pair of bowed rods 20, each of which is connected, as by screw-eyes 21, to the legs on the under side of the chair.

In order to connect all of the brace members above mentioned, I employ a cross-head 32, provided on its upper surface with the hooked terminals 23, having engagement with the bowed rods 20, and the contractile member 24, swiveled to the cross-rod 22 and comprising a threaded member 25, having a hook 26 for engagement with the rod 14, a rod 27, provided at its upper end with an eye 28, encircling the threaded member 25 and having its lower end extending downward through the cross-head and secured therein by means of a head portion 29. Mounted to rotate on the threaded member 25 is a nut 30, so proportioned that one side thereof is in contact with the rod 27 and is adapted to be rotated thereby. In order to conceal the mechanism of the contractile member 24, there is provided the shield 31, the lower end of which terminates in a'lug 32, through which passes the rod 27, and the upper end of which terminates in a lug 33, resting upon the upper surface of nut 30 and encircling the threaded member 25.

Assuming that theback has been assembled and the side pieces 3 have been introduced into the sockets 4 provided therefor and that the legs and their connecting-rungs have been put in position, the chair structure may be securely held by means of the braces and contractile member above described. The hook 19 having been introduced into the eye provided therefor at the end of the rod 14 and the contractile member 24 having been put into operative position with the hooks 23 on the cross-head engaging bowed rods 20 and the hook 26 on the threaded member 24 being in position on the rod 14 by rotating the rod 27 the nut 30 will be caused to move upward upon the threaded stem of member 25, caus ing tension to be placed upon the rod 14 and bowed rods 20 of sufficient intensity to force the legs into their sockets and to drive the rungs firmly home into the sockets provided therefor in the legs. The engagement of the free end of rod 14 with the hook 19 at the end of the brace-rod 16 for the back of the chair causes a downward strain to be placed thereon and forces the top piece 5 down upon the side pieces 4, thus preventing the separation of the elements of the back and also forcing the side pieces home in their sockets 2, proruns on 1m Matt When it is desired to disassemble the members to knock down the chair for shipment, the rotation of the nut 30 by means of the rod 27 will cause the elongation of the contractile member 24 to sufficient extent to release the hooks 23 and 26 from engagement with the rods 20 and 14 and permit all of the members of the chair to be readily disconnected, so that they may, if desired, be placed in compact form, as shown inFig. 2, for shipment.

While my invention has been shown in the form of an upright chair, it is of .course obvious that it may be applied to a chair of the style commonly known as an easy chair, or by a very slight modification involving no departure from my invention it may be applied to a rocking-chair. Such changes as this and others which do not depart from the spirit of the invention or sacrifice any of the advantages thereof Ireserve the right to make.

Having thus described the construction and uses of my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination in a structure of the class described of a seat having sockets, legs adapted for insertion into certain of said sockets, a back adapted to be inserted into certain others of said sockets, brace members connecting said seat, legs and back, and a contractile member by means of which all of said brace members may be subjected to tension to holdsaid seat, back and legs in rigid association.

2. The combination in a structure of the class described of a seat, sockets provided on the under surface of said seat, legs adapted to be inserted into said sockets, sockets provided on the upper surface of said seat, a back adapted for insertion into said upper sockets, arms permanently attached to said back and said seat, a brace member attached to the back, a brace member attached to the seat and adapted to be engaged by the back brace, braces attached to the legs, and a contractile connection between said seat brace and said leg-braces whereby all said brace members may be placed under tension.

The combination in a structure of the class described of a seat having leg-sockets, legs adapted for insertion into said sockets and having rung-sockets, rungs adapted for insertion into said rung-sockets, a back pivotally connected with said seat, a brace-rod secured to the under surface of said seat, a back-brace adapted to engage with said seatrod, brace members connecting said legs in pairs, and a contractile member connecting said leg-braces and said seat-rod, whereby all said brace structure may be placed under tension.

4. The combination in a structure of the class described of a seat, legs adapted for attachment to said seat, a back pivotally connectedwith said seat and adapted to enter sockets provided therefor in said seat, a brace rodattached to the under surface of said seat and havi a an eye-at ics en a ta. in

, an wi at tic-l true flint, :2. met:-

brace having a hooked terminal adapted to engage with said eye, leg-braces, and a contractile member adapted to connect said seatrod and said legbraces, whereby all said brace structure may be placed under tension.

5. The combination in a structure of the class described, of a seat, legs adapted for attachment to said seat and provided with brace-rods, a rod attached to the under surface of said seat, a back comprising side members adapted for insertion into sockets on said seat and having a bottom piece rigidly held between said side pieces, a top piece having sockets for the entrance of said side pieces, arms pivotally connected with said seat and with the side pieces of said back, a

back-brace extending .from the top of said back downward through the bottom piece of said back and engaging with said seat-rod,

and a contractile member between said seatmy own I have hereto affixed my signature in 35 the presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST GRUENWALD. Witnesses:

F. N. DERBY, J. W. WILLSON. 

